busted deisel

["andy gladish" <gladish@domain.elided>]

Hey all you deisel guys (especially Eldon if he's dug out of the drifts
yet).
I looked at a rust free (meaning no holes- plenty of light surface rust) 78
2wd with the Nissan deisel today. There was a hole in the case just behind
the pump- looked like a rod had come apart and hit the side of the case on
the way up.
The things that make me leery about using that engine are:
a) busted rod- is it possible that a decent STM (shade tree mechanic) could
just replace that rod?
b) never been inside a deisel
c) the engine is an 81. If the original engine and the replacement engine
both went out inside of 120k, what good is fixing or replacing it? 
The Nissan deisels have a good reputation, but I don't know if I want a
whole new world of experiences.....
Why not stick a straight six in there? It hasn't run for a few years and it
looks like more trouble than I may want to deal with except that having an
all original rig is attractive and I'd have to take off those neat deisel
emblems.
Of course I don't know if a six would fit, but that's the problem after
this problem.
Andy Gladish
Guemes Is., WA